After far too long, a political breach has been bridged. Yes, after so many hurtful words, and a period of unnecessary distance, finally relations have been normalized!
Oh. You thought I was talking about what? The U.S. and Cuba?
Well, no. Actually, I was referring to the Port Angeles City Council and the New and Renewed and Really Good Now Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce United. Yes, after that hurtful, painful, and hurtful period in which it was implied by some that the Chamber hadn't "been all that they could be" in terms of delivering the goods, now we can let the stealing - er, healing - begin. Again.
Russ gives his critics the finger...I mean a brochure.
The issues at hand were: Who will be in charge of "marketing" Port Angeles, and who will be tasked with running the Visitor's Center? Both, needless to say, involve money changing hands. Russ Veenema and his crew of acknowledged underachievers have now had their official, "Heck of a job, Russie" moment, and all is well. The comrades at the Take Their Money and Run Regional Chamber of Commerce can now resume their unproven, unprovable and likely highly inefficient "marketing" of Port Angeles to the world. This will, as you know, allow the booming economy and flood of visitors to Port Angeles that they helped create to both continue unabated.
Yeah, right.
Now available at the Port Angeles Visitor's Center!
In delightful downtown Port Angeles brown!
Which of your City Council members, you might ask, would be SO STUPID as to trust Russ Veenema? With his well-documented history of avoiding tough questions, offering zero proof for his claimed successes, and generally being one of the most incompetent-yet-arrogant people around, which members of the City Council would believe ANYTHING he has to say?
Why, the mayor, Dan DiGuilio, for one - or should I say for two? He supported the Chamber of Horrors for both tasks, as did dittohead Dan Gase and how-low-can-he-go Brad Collins.
On the other hand, who had the sense to say "Hell, no!" to giving the long-time losers at the Chamber of Incompetence any more money? Sissi Bruch, and, of all people, Pat Downie. They both voted NO both times. (Meanwhile, showcasing their lack of getting-itness, Cherie Kidd and Lee Whetham both voted yes for one, and no for one. Which makes little sense, but, then again, look who we're talking about.)
Sigh...What is there to say about this sorry bunch?
How about you? Do you have faith in Russ and/or the United Chamber of Clodhoppers? Was it enough for you that the City went through the motions of pretending that they might split from the tried-and-through Port Angeles Regional Bedchamber of Commerce? Or were you holding out hope for, you know, actual change or accountability?
In any case, let's end on an up note: Heck of a job, Downie!
It's like the earlier posting on here, about insanity being defined by doing the same thing, over and over, and expecting different results. This decision IS insanity. I mean, yeah, you know you're in trouble when Pat Downie is the voice of reason.
ReplyDeleteWhat does "failure" mean in Clallam County? It just means you're ready for a promotion and a raise. Crazy!
If any one looks into it, they will see that tourism was up all over, this year. It wouldn't take much to see how much more traffic other destinations got this year as a percentage increase, and see how Port Angeles actually did.
ReplyDeleteNow, giving more money to the Chamber? Ridiculous.
Yet another reason to recall ALL the council, and start over. How bad does it have to get? As someone else said, they've lived here for along time, and never seen so much bad news in such a short time.
And, it keeps coming.
No one will look into it, because that isn't what we do here. We take the path of least resistance, and then get what we deserve.
ReplyDeleteIts all low hanging fruit, like watermelons, around here.
And if they did want to "look into it," that would almost certainly require the hiring of an out of town consultant to handle the task, right?
DeleteYes, not only an out-of-town consultant, but one who over charges, and returns answers to questions not asked, and no answers to questions tasked.
DeleteIf you've ever been to a city council meeting...and I have, and I know some of these council members have...and you've seen Russ give his so-called report, it's a joke. Always good news, always encouraging.
ReplyDeleteAs for questions from the council members...you're kidding, right? Russ could be up there confessing to multiple murders, and they'd just sit there with their eyes glazed and nod...then hand out thousands more of your tax dollars.
Other people's money...So easy for this council to spend. To call them a bunch of morons is being charitable. They are retarded children, led around by staff, having no thoughts of their own. The damage they do to the community they supposedly serve is astounding.
And they sit and nod...
two thoughts:
ReplyDelete"oh, looky! We gots bro-shoors!"
and:
I thought City Council sessions were nap time for Pat Downie.
Pat Downie's motto is "You snooze, you lose" and you know Pat ain't much of a winner!
DeleteOff this topic, per se, but in the news...Didn't Amber Mozingo steal a bunch of money from the city when she worked there, or something like that? As I recall, she worked there supervising the after school program for kids or some such thing.
ReplyDeleteWell, her husband, Walter, has been arrested for child rape. Seems like they both like to victimize kids...Another great day in Port Angeles, right?
She didn't steal money. She had her kids in the program without paying.
DeleteTheft of services is, in a way, a theft of money. And it's still theft either way. Nice family.
DeleteLets see during her reign: I lost money on a summer program I signed my kid up for, and then, needed to get a refund on it (before the class even started) and was told "it's in the mail" and then, later, when no check came "you don't qualify for a refund, the program just started". I lost money when I sent a check for an after school program, and it was cashed but the program cancelled. No refund. So, I don't know, I hardly doubt I was the only one who's money vanished.
DeleteThe Port Angeles City Council just pisses money away on foolishness, year after year after year.
ReplyDeleteCheck what else happened at this last meeting: They wrote off $400,000 in Pen Ply utility debts. Which means they had been stupid enough to let Pen Ply get that far in the hole. They also wrote off $36,000 in "small, uncollectable utility accounts." That represents a LOT of people who didn't pay their utility bills, and I'm guessing that a lot of them got their power cut off, or were threatened with that. Obviously Pen Ply never got that threat.
So say what you will about the individual deadbeats who have left their utility bills for us all to pay, but they pale in comparison to the real, big time thieves like the ones at Pen Ply. And their thievery was absolutely aided and abetted by the City Council. The very City Council who are now having to eat that $400,000 debt.
Well, that's not quite true. I have no doubt the Council will find a way to pass those costs on to all of us. Watch your utility bill for the next increase.
Idiots.
As I recall, Max Mania was on the COC from the start to try and get them to prove that they were being effective. And without the support of other council members, that went nowhere. I also recall him being the lone voice who voiced any skepticism about Pen Ply's chances ahead of time, and I believe he sounded the alarm about Pen Ply's growing utility debt when it was about half this size. And without the support of any other council members, these alarms also went nowhere. And as I recall, Max essentially got driven out of town for his efforts. Kill the messenger, anyone? This council, this city, they don't want to hear facts, they don't want to hear truth. They just want to maintain their bizarre and outdated mill town illusions, while the whole place goes down in flames around them. No wonder no one bothers to even run for city council. It's not just a thankless task, but also a pointless one.
Delete...all of which only goes to prove that the people in City Hall not only don't want to hear the truth they are actively, aggressively hostile to it. The truth must be hunted down and destroyed. It is too dangerous.
DeleteFollow this tax money in 2015!
ReplyDeleteA proper audit will ultimately reveal $50K+ of these funds will go to backing an otherwise UNFUNDED contract bonus or "severance pay" for the Chamber Director at 2015 year end. Remember, the Director has already announced his pending "retirement' in the PDN.
The deal, referred to by insiders as the Chamber Director's "Golden Parachute", was negotiated between the Director and some current and past Chamber Board members a few years back.
Maybe it's just a coincidence that it was contracted between the Chamber Director and his Board around the time Councilman Gase was Chamber President.
While some good old boys know all about this, it has never been publically revealed, which may be legal - but is hardly ethical. It is not ethical particularly when the regular (non-good old boy), honest, dues paying Chamber members or Chamber volunteers know anything about this scandalous backroom deal - which up until now was an unfunded but contractually bound Chamber liability!
CK, your joke above, about PA getting the finger, is no joke.
What's even more despicable though is that standing right behind the Chamber Director as he flips PA off is the current PA Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
The PA Chamber of Commerce Director and his Board are laughing all the way to the bank in 2015!
Thank you for your insider's perspective, and the information. I assure you, I well know that Russ is giving Port Angeles the finger. He won't live here, but he'll take the money. He'll claim he's promoting it, but doesn't do so good on saying how, or how they're measuring the effectiveness of it. I also know at least two people who started new businesses, and got conned into "hosting" (which means paying for) a Chamber luncheon - after which, Russ gave them the cold shoulder. He got his free meal, and screw you. Now he's getting his free severance package, and screw everyone, right?
DeleteRusty Eenema is demanding, rude, and boorish. He is not a nice man. He is a liar, and a lout. When it comes to ordering food the royal chamber (pot) meeting lunches they order late, and then never a dime for a "tip" (and get insulted if you ask "hey, where's a tip?")
DeleteIn fact, he grumbles about the price.
I've never heard him even mumble a "thank you".
He doesn't go into businesses, regularly, either. Seems to think it's above his pay grade to actually muck around with the peons.
I don't see how anyone can tolerate his horrible, rude behavior, yet he "represents us"? He isn't even friendly. He's our anti-ambassador? Is that the point? I can't understand why he's there, as he doesn't do his job. Never has, never will. (I assume he's sitting in his office looking at large breasted porn, or something, because, clearly, he's NOT doing his job.)
I had no use for him after he spoke to a flustered, and young employee as if she was his personal attendant. This was impolite, brusque and discourteous (and that is putting it politely).
He is a royal, flaccid prick.
I hope he leaves.
He is, clearly, not who should be representing this town.
The Council definitely deserves blame for being clueless and irresponsible. But why does no one hold the City Manager accountable for this mess, too?
ReplyDeleteMany of the problems began under previous city managers Madsen and Myers who were notoriously awful. Fire Chief Dan McKeen sat and watched them destroy much of the city's potential, and so he came into the Manager's job knowing which department heads and staffers (and even which over-reaching council members or former council members) needed to be fired or reined-in. Yet he did little or nothing to clean house.
McKeen is a nice guy, but he deserves some discredit here too. Get a backbone, Mr. City Manager. Maybe even a majority of the council would back you in making needed reforms if you boldly lead them.
You haven't figured this scam out, yet? These people are here to make MONEY! One way, or another. This whole town couldn't exist without big chunks of taxpayer's money being given to the "special people" who are well placed.
ReplyDeleteGrant Munro is one of the people involved with Pen Ply. He is still using some of their equipment to load logs to send them off to China, down on a portion of the former Pen Ply site.. He was happy to be the beneficiary of tax money for his operations. But pay back?
As he said to the public of Port Angeles "They can go pound sand".
You knew he was appointed to City Council by Rogers and crew for a reason.
correction: not "make money" steal, scam and con. Big difference. To say "make" implies that they do something.
DeleteOh, sorry. Yes, you're right.
DeleteHere is a relevant quote:
ReplyDelete"Veenema said the city’s hesitation about renewing the marketing contract was due to a lack of visibility of the work of providing information about the city and its surrounding area to potential tourists.
“Much of that work goes unheralded and unnoticed,” he said. “We need to highlight what we do a little bit more.”
You know you're doing a really great job of "promotion", when you say you know it is going "unnoticed", and "due to a lack of visibility of the work being done".
Yep! That sure is the sign of effective advertising. The kind nobody sees or knows about.
And don't forget the rest of the quote: "We need to make sure we have an education process to work on the negative votes of the three members (who voted against the COC)."
DeleteNo, Russ, you don't need to open a re-education camp. Maybe, just maybe, those NO votes were what they were because they are, in fact, very well-educated about all you have NOT done in your job. In other words, the NO votes were votes of NO confidence in YOU Russ. You jackass.
Unheralded and unnoticed? Those are the words of a flim-flam man.
DeleteRuss, go back to Park City Utah, and sell time shares. Who hired this moron? You should be ashamed of yourselves.
Just how vested in the success of Port Angeles is Russ when he lives in Sequim? Just how in touch is Russ with businesses when he never goes into them? How concerned with doing the best job is Russ when he does things like hire his young, dumb niece for a paid position with the Chamber? Russ is a trainwreck of a mess, yet here we are again, with the city council buying tickets for another ride...
DeleteRuss has about as much credibility as a snake oil salesman, but with half their charm.
DeleteBut it's obviously enough for the city council, eh? Merry Christmas for Russ, but a lump of coal for PA's merchants and citizens.
Who wants to go to a City Council meeting and hold up signs reading "RESIGN"?
ReplyDeleteGreat idea!
DeleteCan't we just bring back tar-and-feathering?
DeletePlease see the text of my speech to the council last night before the vote on these contracts. You can read the speech at:
ReplyDeletewww.portocallpublishing.com
I've read what you wrote/said, Dale, but tell me this: Did any of the weasels actually make eye contact with you? Or did they keep their beady little red eyes averted?
DeleteWell said Dale.
DeleteMeanwhile...The people who are supposedly going to "review our county charter" are so out of it, they didn't know they needed to give notice for their own meeting. Not an auspicious start, folks.
ReplyDeleteAs we head into one of the last weekends of the year...The total number of pageviews for this blog this year stands at just shy of 50,000. Or, roughly one pageview for every dollar Russ Veenema is going to get in his totally undeserved Golden Parachute from the COC.
ReplyDeleteThanks CK. You're helping to get people to see how absurd this place is.
DeleteWith any luck, people thinking of moving to Port Angeles have found this site before it was too late, and they were able to be warned before making the mistake so many have.
Ya can only try.
We all own you a debt of gratitude for the time and real work you put into keeping this forum going, even though it would be so much easier for you to spend that same time enjoying the community you moved to.
Thanks.
CK. You are to be commended. I found out about this site only six months ago and am happy to have contributed. One of mine was, "You Can't Pay the Bills Looking At A Lake". Among others. Thank You for giving a place to vent or opine about issues that are hardly ever touched upon in the daily PDN rag. Sincerely, Steve
DeleteThanks to you all for the kind words. I see this as a public service, really, having gone through the trial by fire that is living in Port Angeles. The PDN is never going to let the truth through, even if you have a Facebook account and are willing to go on the record and all that. As for enjoying my new community, I'm still doing that, too. After finishing my work week early today, we had a delicious lunch at the better of the two Indian restaurants in town. Right now, we just got in from seeing the new Chris Rock movie, TOP FIVE, at the biggest of the three movie theaters in town. Life is good, and can be for you too. I truly wish the best for everyone who reads this blog, and hope to help them, even if in only a small way, avoid the mistake I made in moving to Port Angeles.
DeleteHave a good weekend, everyone. Thanks so much.
WOW, 50,000!
ReplyDeleteJust like X Files.........the Truth is Out There!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeletePathetic.
DeleteCK
ReplyDeleteBetter catch up.
See PDN, Lincoln Theater.
looking for funding, is not really "buying it". Too bad all the good grant money already evaporated (with all the other 4500 theaters that closed this year because of the digital switch over). I hope they pull it off, but keeping it going and in the black, is going to be a long, uphill battle.
ReplyDelete